


Time Changes People

by heelnev



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Bonding, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Reunions, get a load of these Evil Boyfriends, well...... they're not boyfriends YET but....... ya know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 15:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heelnev/pseuds/heelnev
Summary: Wade was shocked. He was completely unaware that Neville had something like that in him – that there was an evil side of him that no one knew existed.'Neville is... really like that?' Wade thought. 'MY Neville?'





	Time Changes People

**Author's Note:**

> About a month or so ago I wrote this in response to an ask on Tumblr and never got around to posting it here for some reason. So, here it is!! Enjoy these Good Boys!!

It had been far too long since Wade had last seen Neville.

The last time he remembered speaking with him in person was the night that Neville broke his ankle. It wasn’t a particularly long conversation or anything – the doctors were too busy trying to take care of the injury as best as they could. “Sorry about what happened,” was all that Wade was able to get out before he was forced to leave. Not too long after that following Wrestlemania 32, Wade moved on to bigger and better things and left WWE behind him.

And Neville, too.

The only way the two of them communicated following his departure was through text messages, but those were few and far between. When Neville returned from injury, Wade had texted him and congratulated him on his win. Neville responded with “thank you! :)” and that was it. This was essentially the formula that all of their text conversations followed, with the conversation itself fizzling out at a rather rapid pace.

This wasn’t because they weren’t  _interested_  in talking or anything. Neither of them had any malicious intent and certainly didn’t like to blow the other off, but they were both simply too busy to maintain conversation for very long. Neville had been drafted to Raw following the brand split and was making frequent appearances on the show as well as on Superstars. Wade was busy trying to land his next acting role, unknowing of anything that was going on in WWE that wasn’t mentioned in tweets. He didn’t make much of an effort to check out any episodes of Raw or Smackdown, nor did he watch any of the pay-per-views… well, except for one.

Roadblock: End of the Line.

When Wade logged online following the end of the event, all that he saw was posts about what happened after the conclusion of the Cruiserweight title match. Rich Swann had just retained, and Neville had come down to the ring seemingly to congratulate him. Wade smiled fondly at that, happy that Neville was still keeping himself relevant even with the lack of screen time he’d had in the last few weeks.

But then Neville punched Rich in the face.

TJ Perkins ended up meeting the same fate, both wrestlers being left flat on their faces while a defiant Neville stood over them. Wade was shocked. He was  _completely_  unaware that Neville had something like that in him – that there was an evil side of him that no one knew existed.

_Neville is… **really**  like that?_ Wade thought.  _ **My** Neville?_

When Wade learned that Neville was set to have a Cruiserweight title match at the Royal Rumble, Wade made sure to get on a flight to San Antonio so he could be there for it. He knew that he needed to speak with Neville in person again. He needed to know  _why_ he did what he did,  _why_  he felt the need to attack two innocent people.

It was nice being able to catch up with all his friends again. Neville wasn’t the only person who Wade hadn’t seen in awhile, and it brought a smile to his face to be able to talk with them again just like old times. He had flown out to the Rumble for a reason, however, and he couldn’t afford to be wasting time.

After speaking with Sami and few others who Wade knew Neville was close with, he was pointed in the direction of an abandoned corner of the arena. Neville had become notorious for prepping himself before matches alone in places where no one else would bother him, and obviously he was doing the same that night. Wade was a little nervous to be approaching him, unsure of the reaction that he would get. This clearly wasn’t the Neville he knew – the kind, considerate Neville was long gone and had been replaced with… someone very different. Who knew if Neville would regard him as a friend or even an acquaintance.

Wade quietly walked up to Neville, who was looking down towards the floor and facing away from him. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Time changes people, huh? It certainly changed  _you_.”

Neville’s head snapped in Wade’s direction, a look of shock on his face. His brow scrunched up and his expression changed, momentarily becoming one of anger before ultimately growing neutral. “I guess you could say that,” he replied.

“How long has it been, anyway? Almost a year, at least,” Wade continued, desperate not to let this conversation die down like their previous ones did. “I barely even recognize you.”

“You haven’t changed at all,” Neville replied with a deadpan tone in his voice. “You still seem just as arrogant.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Wade spotted an equipment crate nearby and sat down on it. “So… Talk to me.”

“About?”

“Y’know… this.” Wade gestured towards Neville, moving his hand up and down. “What caused all of this? You’re like the definition of evil now.”

“Why do you  _think_ , Barrett?” He spat, crossing his arms. “Go ahead, take a guess.”

“Uhh… Because you really like wearing the color black?”

“God, there you go, once again not taking anything seriously… You haven’t missed a beat since coming back.” Neville rolled his eyes. “If you want to know so badly, then I’ll tell you. I was sick of being overlooked all the time.”

“Who was overlooking you?”

“Everyone!” Neville threw his arms up in frustration. “All the important people never gave me the time of day – the fans, the management, even some of the cruiserweights! My own damn co-workers were so involved in their little division that they didn’t even look in my direction more often than not. I go way back with some of those guys, but it’s like we were complete strangers.”

“Well, they certainly know you now,” Wade joked, scratching the back of his neck.

“No one appreciates the work that I’ve done. I helped to make NXT what it is nowadays, but when was the last time you ever heard anyone mention that? It’s all about these new guys and what  _they’ve_  accomplished. Nobody ever wants to talk about  _Adrian’s_ title run anymore, he’s not  _cool_  like Finn or Kevin.” Neville’s fists clenched. “And what about when I returned? The crowd was  _dead_. I was only out for a few months, and somehow I became ‘bland’ and ‘outdated’ even though I was doing the same damn thing that people loved me for!” He took a few deep breaths, trying to compose himself.

Wade didn’t say anything for a moment, processing what Neville said. Wade remembered feeling the exact same way before he left – the fans were seemingly always turning on him. In 2013, he was ‘boring’. In 2014, he was the ‘highlight of Raw and Smackdown every week’. He was never sure what it was that the fans wanted, and by the time his final years rolled around it was like they just stopped caring. Having to deal with apathetic fans after giving them so much was enough to make anyone angry.

“I get where you’re coming from,” Wade finally said. “I see why you feel that way.”

Neville’s eyebrows raised, and he looked almost impressed. “Huh. Glad to see that at least  _someone_  around this joint gets it. Everyone else just treats me like I’m some kind of monster.”

“Come on, did you really think that someone who got popular by delivering bad news would really shame you for something like this?” Wade hopped off of the crate, taking a few steps closer to him. “That was one hell of an ambush you did on Rich and TJ, though. You really went in on ‘em.”

“What, are you gonna tell me that I shouldn’t have been so harsh?”

“Hell no! I was gonna say that you should have used a chair or something. It’d be a little more impactful, if you catch my drift.” Wade gave him a nudge.

“Have you always been this smart? Why didn’t I notice before…” Neville mused.

“If you want, I could give you some pointers? Help you become a  _real_  bad guy?” Wade suggested.

“I didn’t realize that I was being a  _fake_  bad guy,” Neville replied, though there was a noticeable lack of malice in his voice. “Either way, I wouldn’t mind hearing from you more often. Maybe we could meet up after my match? After I become champion?”

“Sounds like a plan,  _king_.”


End file.
